


Finally Heroes

by Firewhisperer13



Series: Descendants Series [3]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/M, Movie: Descendants 3, Romance, Sequel, Trilogy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:13:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 18,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24740587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firewhisperer13/pseuds/Firewhisperer13
Summary: Two years after the original 5 VKs came to Auradon, four more are permitted to leave the Isle of the Lost. Amid all the celebration, however, lurks the fears of Uma's return and the threat of Hades' escape from the Isle, following his first attempt. But when the true evil in Auradon surfaces, it comes from somewhere unexpected, and the former villains must save Auradon one last time. All Rights Reserved, Disney Channel, 2019
Relationships: Carlos de Vil/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Descendants Series [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1788964
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For Cameron Boyce... 
> 
> You were part of the childhoods of everyone involved in this story, readers and writer alike. Thank you for making us smile through the harder times and laugh in the good. You will not be forgotten.

I watched the point where the sky met the sea as the limo drove over the bridge appearing to only be made of golden dust. The magic from Auradon was some powerful stuff if it had the ability to support a giant vehicle transporting five people and their driver. My stomach performed an entire gymnastics routine the closer we got to our destination, despite attempts at convincing me this was really no big deal. I could feel the pressure of a hand wrapped loosely around my arm, providing a form of comfort. This wasn't some high-society event, but it meant something to myself and the other four seated around me. We all glanced at each other with bright, beaming smiles, then the limo came to a halt on the other side of the bridge.

"All right, guys." Mal leaned forward, resting on her knee. "We've all made our decisions, correct? Hera, Carlos? You came to an agreement?" 

"It took us a few hours, but we finally reached a consensus." I slid down in the seat slightly, then glanced at the boy to my right.

"And then we double-checked with Jay," Carlos finished.

"It really shouldn't have been as complicated as we made it."

"But sometimes, we overthink the little things."

"Okay, you two can stop that now." Jay moved his hand in a circular fashion in front of our bodies, causing me to scoff.

"VKs, let's do this."

Mal swung open the door and the five of us spilled out, watching as all the kids watching us began to cheer excitedly and wave, bright smiles stretched across their faces. We offered them passing pleasantries, then kept making our way toward our destination. When we stepped into the main square of the Isle, we looked at each other, then cupped our hands to our mouths and shouted, signaling for them to come down and follow.

"From the north to the south, to the east, to the west! Lost boys, lost girls, you all know your the best!"

"Hit the streets, it's your day! Turn it up, now's your chance!"

Kids began to clamor down their gutters and burst through the doors of their homes, pristine, white applications in their hands. The papers really were more for show, since we'd already decided which kids we were bringing back to Auradon with us. After the whole incident with Uma spelling Ben to get through the barrier, he realized more kids needed to be brought through the barrier, and-- per Evie's request-- had permitted us to choose four more kids who needed a new start and bring them back to Auradon. 

Everyone gathered around, following us back to the area near the barrier. While they clamored and whispered to each other below, the five of us took our places so that the kids could hear and reach us easily. Carlos and I stood beside each other on one of the sets of stairs, casting each other a quick smile.

"It's good we're doing this," I thought out loud. "They should be proud of where they came from, just without the encouraging of... well, crime." Carlos reached over and grabbed my hand.

"Not all of us were bad to begin with."

"Fair point, but there are still plenty of kids who need an intervention." 

The two of us fell silent as the crowd began to cheer again, indicating we had to get ready to make the announcement. All of the eager faces broke my heart slightly, knowing we'd have to leave most of them behind. But, hopefully, we'd get to bring them all over at a point in the near future.

"I can't believe this day has finally arrived!" Just those few words started the wave of shouts again, indicating just how excited everyone was. "I honestly wish we could take all of you with us, and someday very soon, maybe we can."

"Yeah, we're gonna be back here so many times, you're going to be so sick of us." The crowd tried to assure Mal that wouldn't be the case, but all their words blended together in a controlled cacophony.

"Can we get a drumroll, please?" Everyone began stomping their feet rapidly, building the tension of the moment. "First, I would like to begin with the Granddaughter of Lady Tremaine, daughter of Drizella; my sweet, sweet friend, my Dizzy." 

Dizzy squealed excitedly, then sprinted up to Evie and pushed herself into her embrace as the rest of the crowd cheered for her. I placed one hand on Carlos' back and leaned over his shoulder slightly as he opened up the declaration we were meant to read. 

"Next... the son of Smee. Come on, Squeaky!"

The small, shy twin holding his father's right hand stared up at his dad for a moment, then slowly let go, pattering over to Carlos and I and quickly attaching to Carlos' side. I smiled up at him and moved my other hand to Squeaky's shoulder, helping him feel a little safer away from his dad and brother for the first time.

"And no way we're splitting up the twins, so get over here, Squirmy! Come on!" The other one of the boys ran over to Jay, who stood on the other side of the balcony. Carlos patted Squeaky's shoulder, getting him to smile, then his hand rested on mine.

"And last, but certainly not least-- we all picked this girl because we all agreed that she could use a little bit of Fairy Godmother's goodness class. Give it up for Dr. Facilier's daughter, Celia!"

"I'm bad." She twirled once in a circle and made her way up to Mal. With all the kids announced, Jay, Carlos, and I brought the twins up to where Mal, Celia, Evie, and Dizzy were waiting.

"We'll be back for you guys next week, okay?"

"Yeah, so pack your own stuff," Carlos instructed them.

"Your _own_ stuff," I warned.

"Where are you going?"

"We're going to Auradon!" the kids cheered. I could tell they were already bouncing with excitement, but they'd have to wait for the proper accommodations to be made.

"Gang, we should head back now." We all knew Mal had business to attend to with Ben, so we nodded and followed her back to the limo. As it began to pull away from the Isle, I leaned against Carlos, watching as our former home disappeared into the background, and our new one grew larger and larger before us.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the ol' noggin I got here, the dialogue at one point in this chapter is a duet between Hera and Carlos, and there's some good ass choreography so basically what I'm saying is I really wish visuals were a thing.

"Hey, Carlos, have you seen my--" 

I felt something soft strike the back of my head and tumble to the ground, causing me to turn around and stare downwards. A neatly rolled pair of socks sat a few inches from me, having been thrown a great distance in order to get here. Sighing, I reached down and picked them up, carefully setting them in the bag.

"I was going to say 'phone', but I do need these, so thanks!" Carlos wandered out of my room with my phone in one hand. He eyed me with caution as he placed the device in my hands. 

"Are you... gonna be okay?" I scoffed and shook my head as I slung my bag over one arm. 

"Carlos, it's just swimming. And these people are my friends now, so really, you don't have to worry." I quickly squeezed his hand. He fell silent for a moment, then finally smiled.

"I'm impressed, Hera. I remember there was a time when you wouldn't have gone within a fifty-foot radius of Jon. And now you've been spending time with those kids you met in class."

"Well, we've had time to change." I turned around and glanced out the window for a moment. "I used to be afraid. I'd fall in line, say 'yes ma'am', and pray I kept my head. I never knew anything better than obeying whomever." My hands leaned against the windowsill. "And when someone finally showed me love, I knew it wasn't true. But I went with it anyway, because what else had I been taught to do? I let the waves toss me around, beat my head on the ocean floor, hold it under in the current until I nearly drowned." 

I slowly turned and faced Carlos, resting my hands on his forearms. 

"You never really came along, you were always there. I just never saw you as someone who would become _this_ to me." My hand floated up to his cheek. "But it's always been you protecting me like the shield I never knew I needed. My past covered my eyes until you moved its hands, and only then did it become clear: through all the ups and downs, we were always meant to get here." Carlos gently placed his hand over mine.

"I never thought you'd turn my way, so I took what I could get. Being there for you felt like enough, I swallowed the rest down. And it wasn't always like that, there was a time when the thought of loving you grossed me out." He leaned forward to try and kiss my cheek, but to emphasize the point, I leaned away.

"We both felt the same way." He pulled me back up and smirked. 

"But in the place I least expected, you came to me. I will never forget that moment, I will never regret the waiting." Suddenly, in a burst of joy, Carlos spun me in a circle, causing me to laugh. "You never really came along, you were always there, and I hoped, one day, you'd become this to me. It's always been you fighting like the sword I never knew I needed. You cleared the clouds of my past to help the sun shine, and that's when it became clear: through all the ups and downs, we were always meant to get here."

"Before, my life was a foggy road, no end in sight."

"I tried to catch you when you fell, but sometimes, you were just out of reach." Carlos leaned forward and pressed his hands against mine.

"You were the beam of light, showing we the way, leading me home." I jumped up, and quickly reacting, Carlos wrapped his arms around my waist and spun around.

Carlos lowered me toward the ground again and placed a kiss on the top of my head, and as I blushed, my eyes moved to the clock on my wall. In the span we'd been messing around, the time I'd promised to meet the others had passed. Scrambling, I reached for my bag and slung it over my shoulder.

"I'm late!" I exclaimed, trying my best to run out the door.

"Hey, you're the one who started going off on a tangent." I could tell Carlos was joking, but I still whipped around, halfway out the door, and stuck my tongue out.

"That doesn't matter. I'm late for this very important date, so now I have to go."

"You know, you never really said hi to me in the first place."

"No time to say hello! Goodbye! I'm late!"

Part of me felt bad leaving Carlos behind, but he'd told me he had to help make plans with Ben, so it's not like I was leaving him to wander and wait. I jumped on my motorbike and sped toward the Enchanted Lake, hoping my lack of helmet wouldn't come back to bite me. Thankfully, I reached the lake without accident, and my friends didn't appear to be upset with my lateness.

"Hera!" Aria waved at me, calling me over to them. It wouldn't be hard to spot her red head of curls, but it was nice to know they were watching for me.

"What took you so long?" I opened my mouth to respond to Ray, but before I could, Rajah interjected. 

"Carlos, no doubt." She and Aria giggled, while the boys shook their head.

"A quick conversation, yes." I slipped off my cover up and folded it, gently placing it in my bag.

"Hera's allowed to spend time with her boyfriend, guys." Jon attempted to defend me, but there really wasn't a need.

"Thanks, Jon, but I'm pretty sure they were just joking." I extended a hand down to him, helping him up. "Now, come on. That Enchanted Lake is calling my name."

"There's actually a really good chance that's happening." With a slightly devilish smirk, I lunged forward and shoved Aria right in. I'd caught her completely off guard, so she flailed her arms in the water, shrieking and laughing as she attempted to stay afloat.

"Come on, Aria! Wasn't your mom a mermaid?" Ray taunted. Aria narrowed her eyes at him, while the rest of us rolled our eyes at each other, then jumped in, joining her in the water. The moment my head came back up, a large wave of water splashed me. I swallowed a bit of it and sputtered, and when I came to my senses, Aria was laughing gleefully.

"Oh, you asked for it!" I tried to splash her back, but she ducked, and I ended up hitting Ray instead. My hand flew to my mouth in shock, and I began to laugh before he lunged for me. Rajah reached out and tried to grab onto ray, falling onto Jon and starting an all-out splashing war with each other.


	3. Chapter 3

The crowd I'd been buried in buzzed about, eager to greet the new VKs coming over from the Isle today. Typically, the five of us just waited for the special limo to show up and left, but this time, something extra had been planned. Something told me Carlos and I both knew what it was, but neither of us wanted to spill to early. I looked up at him and smiled, wrapping my hands around his arm. Belle and Adam adjusted their appearances one last time before the crowd erupted into unanimous cheers. Mal and Ben came around the corner, waving to our fellow students, who just so happened to also be their subjects. Fairy Godmother directed Mal to the stage, instructing her to stay there. She looked confused, but hopefully, it would only be a matter of time before she was smiling.

"Bippity-boppity, one-two, one-two, can everybody hear me?" The entire crowd cheered again, indicating her voice was ringing loud and clear. Ben reached down and took the golden microphone from the woman.

"Thank you, Fairy Godmother." He took a nervous breath, pushing a smile on to his face to attempt and assure those of us in the front that he could do this. "What's up, Auradon? Thank you, thank you so much for coming out to welcome our new arrivals. It worked out pretty well for the first five." I looked up at Carlos, chuckling a little. None of this would have happened if we were still on the Isle of the Lost, I can guarantee that.

"Yeah, especially for you!" My head whipped around, glaring at Chad. He stood with Audrey and her grandmother, the three of them sneering at the scene in front of them. Even though Audrey and Mal had attempted to 'start over', Audrey never really got over things.

Ben ignored the outburst, instead turning to Mal and taking her hand. I moved a little closer to Carlos, attempting to hide my beaming smile. 

"Mal, this is the exact spot we first met not so long ago. I feel like I've known you my whole life. But did I mention I'm in love with you?" A mix of 'aw's and giggles dusted over the speech at the reminder of the incident that started it all. Evie, Carlos, Doug, Jay, and myself all rushed to the side of the stage. Doug began to strum his guitar, and suddenly, Mal's hands flew to her face, covering her dropped jaw. "I met this girl who rocked my world like it's never been rocked. And now I'm living just for her and I won't ever stop. I never thought that it could happen to a guy like me. But now look at what you've done, you've got me down on one knee."

Ben kneeled down, removing the ring from his pocket. Mal's eyes began to water as she gasped, looking as though she had to attempt to breathe. I reached up and took the mic from Ben's hands.

"Mal, it's you and me. It's you and me forever. Will you marry me? Will you be my queen?"

"No!" I heard Audrey scream, more in disbelief than any of the rest of us.

"Yes."

Thank God.

Everyone erupted into claps, screams, and cheers, congratulating the couple as he slipped the ring onto her finger. None of us had doubts that she would say yes, but it was still a relief anyways. Evie and I broke away from the guys so they could have their little talk with Ben while we were with Mal, but I did catch, out of the corner of my eye, Carlos attempt to do a chest bump with King Adam, causing me to laugh.

"Makes our movie night seem a little tame," Doug muttered to Evie. She suddenly turned to face him.

"I love y--" Her expression quickly changed. "Movies

"Me, too."

"Yeah." I raised an eyebrow. That was an entirely different issue in and of itself that would have to be solved at a later time.

The moment Mal rushed to Evie and I, we wrapped her in a tight hug as she laughed, still completely shocked.

"What? Did you know?"

"Everything," Evie admitted.

"For weeks, it was killing us!" I squeezed Mal's hand, laughing. "You are gonna rock that crown."

"Okay, so I've only done about a thousand sketches of your wedding dress, and... Belle's already planned an engagement party next week." Mal's gaze moved to Belle and King Adam, who opened their arms to embrace her.

"It's a really good thing I said yes."

"I finally get a daughter!" Mal sighed happily.

"I love you, Belle."

"Oh, I love you."

Carlos came back to my side, smiling just as wide as I was. I reached up and kissed his cheek, then leaned my head against his shoulder.

"All bow to Her Majesty!" Jay called out, his voice taking on an overly posh accent.

"Ah, yes, her Royal Purpleness!" We all did over-dramatic bows in her and Ben's direction.

"Silence, you annoying peasants." Our jaws dropped, pretending to be offended at her dismissal.

"As you wish, my liege."

"Your Crankiness," I teased. I removed the hat from Carlos' hands and placed it on my head, giggling. He reached out and placed his hands on my arms and pulled me into a kiss, sighing. It's strange to think that only a couple years ago, everyone here distrusted us and our intentions, and wouldn't have even thought of befriending us. Now, we knew almost all of them personally, and those that had despised us were now trusted allies.

The purple limousine pulled up, ready to take us to pick up the kids on the Isle. I opened the door for Carlos, allowing him to slide in first before shutting the door behind us. Once everyone was secured and ready to go, the limo took off, making our way to the Isle and over the golden bridge. The four kids were already waiting with their parental figures-- not necessarily their moms and dads, but that's how it went on the Isle. Carlos and I were in charge of Squeaky and Squirmy, young and shy. They gave their dad one last hug.

"All right, boys. Let's hit the road." We helped usher them to the car and got them into the seats, and not long after, the rest of the kids were brought into the car, and the driver started to leave the confines of the barrier.

"So, as soon as we get back to Auradon, you have to try ice cream," Evie insisted.

"And go swimming?" I smiled. Dizzy sounded so enthusiastic, so ready for the change of scenery and pace.

"I can take you to the Enchanted Lake." They both squealed excitedly.

"I can't believe I get to live with you in your very own castle."

"It's just a little started castle." I scoffed, shaking my head, but smiling at the two of them. Dizzy was like the sister Evie never had.

"Here." Carlos reached out and grabbed a peanut butter cup, handing it to Squirmy. "Go on." The kid stared at it for a moment, trying to figure out exactly what it was, then took a bite. Immediately, his eyes lit up, causing a smile I'd never seen before to creep onto his face. "I know. Dig in, dig in."

I couldn't explain why, but I felt my heart flutter for some reason. Carlos seemed to sense I was looking at him, and he looked over at me.

"What?" I shrugged.

"I don't know." He reached out his arm and rested it around my shoulders.

Celia fanned out her deck of cards, holding them out for Ben to pick one. He played along, taking a card and handing it to the Fortune Teller. 

"You're going to be a wise and brave king."

"He already is," Mal complimented. 

"See? The cards never lie." Celia held out her hand, expecting Ben to pay her. He stuttered for a moment, then reached into his pocket and handed her a small bill. 

We just breached the barrier, when Evie looked back, and her eyes widened.

"It's Hades!" We all turned around to see that the Lord of the Underworld had gotten his hand through the barrier, and was beginning to pry it apart. "Stop the car, he's trying to escape."

We left the kids in the car, and the rest of us climbed out and stood on the bridge.

"I am a god!" he shouted. "I don't belong here!"

Carlos, Ben, and Jay tried to rush him, but he used his ember to blast them back, causing them to crumble to the ground. None of us could get close enough to him for confrontation. The only one that would be able to do anything was Mal. Her eyes began to glow green, and a purple smoke surrounded her, masking her transformation into her dragon form. All she could do was roar before Hades shot a beam from his ember. She struggled and hissed for a moment, then finally was able to blast him back into the confines of the Isle of the Lost. 

When she landed and transformed into a human again, she staggered and stumbled, attempting to breathe. I reached down and helped Carlos up.

"You okay?" He nodded, patting my hand.

"Are you okay?" 

"No. He was draining all of my magic with the ember and I felt... all of my power slipping away."

"You're safe," Evie reassured her. "He's back where he belongs.

"Yeah, for now."

"We should go."

"Okay."

Rattled, we all got back in the car and headed back to Auradon.


	4. Chapter 4

I paced back and forth on the floor, hand not moving from my chin. I couldn't stop replaying what happened with Hades in my mind as Mal explained to Evie and I last night's events. Apparently, her mother's scepter and the crown she would be wearing soon from the Museum in the middle of the night. The cameras had been turned off in that exhibit, so they had no idea who did it yet, but with the recent panic, all eyes were back on the former residents of the Isle.

"Who else knows about the crown and scepter?" I finally asked, after letting the story hang in the air for too long.

"No one. I mean, think about it, people are scared enough as it is. We have to employ these entirely new security measures."

"Will this delay our bringing over more VKs?" Evie interjected. Mal's face changed, but not in a good way. 

"We're talking about closing the barrier for good." My arms slumped slightly. Closing the barrier for good? That would mean the rest of those VKs would be trapped over there, not to mention the ones here now would never get to see their parents again. Hades was one incident that could be managed.

"But you said no. I mean, the five of us are living the dream here, and we finally get to share that. I mean, what could be more important than that?"

"Yeah, I know." Mal shook her head, as though trying to come up with some sort of answer, before taking a seat and sighing. "I mean, maybe security. Or maybe peace of mind for everyone in Auradon."

"Is that what they're thinking?" Evie demanded. I flinched slightly at how harsh her tone sounded. I'd never really heard her get this fired up before. "M, were they seriously thinking that no one will ever go in and out of the Isle ever again? What, we never get to go back and see our parents? And what about these kids? We promised them that they could go back and visit whenever they wanted."

"Yeah, I know."

"M, I'm so glad that you are going to be queen." She reached out and took her friend's hand. You'll be part of those conversations, you will stand up for the VKs. Thank you for telling me." She pulled Mal into a tight hug. "And you'll be a great queen." 

Mal and Evie both got this look on their face, and right then, I got a text from Jon, asking if we could meet up. I sighed and held my phone up, smiling at the girls.

"I'm being summoned. I'll see you guys later."

Unfortunately, I didn't make it far before I heard a strange crash of thunder coming from the castle. I wanted to go and see whatever Jon wanted, but it would have to wait. I turned on my heel and rushed back to the castle, finding the others outside with... some old lady? It wasn't until I got a little closer that I realized that old woman was Mal! Jay reached for her, likely thinking she had just fallen, but when he realized she'd been spelled, he flinched.

"Uh... you might wanna think of a spell for that."

"There's no spell that can reverse the curse of the scepter," Mal explained slowly. 

"Well, that's a shame..." Carlos trailed off. We both looked to each other, shrugging. What else could be done?

"Forget about me. Audrey's out for revenge and all of Auradon is in danger." Audrey was doing this. Why didn't that surprise me at all?

"What should we do? The only thing more powerful than the scepter is Hades' ember."

I stiffened a little. Getting that from someone like Hades, it wasn't going to be easy. In fact, it may as well be impossible. He'd never liked our little group for whatever reason, and now that we'd blasted him back into the Isle, I'm sure any chances at favors had been completely run out.

"Oh, like he's gonna just hand it over if you blew him back to the Isle," I scoffed.

"No one knows where his lair is."

"I do," Celia informed us. "I'm his errand rat. I've got the key at my dad's."

"You're coming." The young girl rolled her eyes and groaned. 

"But I just got here," she protested.

"Mal?" We turned our heads to see Dizzy standing in the doorway, holding the twins' hands. Once they laid eyes on her, Dizzy screamed, while the twins flinched.

"Dizzy, stay here and take care of the twins," Evie ordered. "We'll be right back and everything will be just fine. Go inside." She tapped Jay's arm. "Guys, go get your stuff." Carlos and Jay ran inside to gather up the helmets for our bikes.

"How bad is it?" Evie and I exchanged wary glances as Mal smiled at us with what little teeth she had left. Neither of us wanted to insult her, given how dire the circumstances were, but it was hard to lie in this case. So, instead, Evie answered the question without answering the question.

"You age... beautifully. Now, let's just get you into something fabulous." Evie ushered Mal inside, and I was about to follow them, when my phone rang.

"Hey, Jon."

_"Hi, Hera. Where are you?"_ I had almost forgotten Jon had summoned me.

"Oh, uh, there's been a little... incident." He hummed in acknowledgement, trying to get me to explain. "Audrey kind of stole Maleficent's scepter and the crown and turned Mal into an old lady."

_"What?"_ Thankfully, he sounded like he was taking this seriously.

"We don't know where she's going next, but everyone needs to be cautious, okay?"

_"Well, what are you guys doing about that?"_

"We're heading to the Isle to get Hades' ember, hopefully. That can reverse the spell Audrey put on Mal, and we may be able to stop her with that. I'll update you once we get back to Auradon." Jon paused for a moment.

_"Okay. Stay safe."_

"You, too."

Carlos and Jay came back with everyone's helmets, and we got onto our motorcycles, heading to the point where the bridge to the Isle normally would be. I remembered the last time Mal used this spell, and hoped it would work just as well as it did last time.

"Noble steed, proud and fair, you shall take us anywhere."

We sped forward onto the water, and, thankfully, the vehicles carried us all the way across to the Isle.


	5. Chapter 5

We parked not far from where Celia had said Hades' lair was. I took the chance to get a good look around, realizing not much had changed since last time, when Mal and I stormed off in a huff and thought we were going to stay here. When we first left, after Ben had selected the five of us to come and integrate into Auradon's society, I thought I'd never come back, leave behind the horrible memories of this place. But somehow, I always kept getting pulled back.

My eyes kept moving around until they rested on Mal, who, peculiarly, had turned back to normal. How and when did that happen?

Mal also noticed as she clapped her hands together, fascinated with the lack of knots in her fingers.

"Hey! I'm me again."

"Duh!" Celia exclaimed. "Evil magic doesn't work here. Kind of the point."

"Oof, welcome back." Evie wrapped an arm around Mal's shoulders.

"Thank you." Carlos reached out and grabbed my hand as all of us followed Celia toward her father's secret club. She flashed an enthusiastic smile before pounding in rhythm on the door, relaying the secret knock for whoever waited on the other side. Thankfully, she got it right, and the door slid open. Still beaming, she beckoned us inside and led us down the stairs. Soft jazz music played from speakers as people sat around, gambling and playing games with each other. There were very few places on the Isle that actually allowed for people to have legitimate forms of fun, and even though I knew it was just a way for Dr. Facillier to make a quick buck, it brought me some comfort to think people had other things to do around here besides terrorizing others.

"Hey!" I smiled as Celia ran up to her Dad, who waited eagerly for her in the center of the arcade floor, arms opened wide.

"Daddy!" she squealed as he jumped into his arms. He laughed and spun his daughter around, making my heart melt. Some villains loved their kids, even if our parents hadn't. The two of them engaged in a little dance, their own sort of secret handshake, to finish off their greeting.

"Come here, you little rascal." Someone tossed Facillier his cane. As the pair wandered back to catch up, the five of us descended the stairs, splitting off to marvel at various games and attractions that had been set up. The woman running a dart throwing game offered me a warm smile, exchanging a silent pleasantry as we acknowledged each other's presence.

"Uh, guys?" I turned my head back at the sound of Carlos' voice. He was sat in front of an old television set, with footage of Auradon playing on the screen. "Come look at this."

I leaned against his shoulders as the others made their way over, paying careful attention to the broadcast Carlos had tuned to.

_"There are rumors that Sleeping Beauty's daughter, Audrey, is behind the spell,"_ the reported stated matter-of-factly. _"We're trying to discover who is responsible for these vicious lies and which villain has perpetrated this evil."_

I rolled my eyes. Of course they wouldn't believe it was Audrey, not in a million years. No matter how nasty she could be, even if they saw her commit the acts themselves, the people of Auradon would always find her innocent because there were enough villains to blame.

_“We have an update?”_ Suddenly, panic crossed the reporter’s face. _“What? It’s moving this way? It’s moving this way.”_

Just before the camera cut out, I watched a mist of candy pink completely envelop the small piece of the world captured by the camera. Ironic, the color seemed to portray a sort of innocence, when thousands of people were being sent into an indefinite slumber. My eyes slowly moved up to Mal, whose jaw had dropped slightly. We needed to get this ember _now_ , before Audrey could do any more damage to Auradon. Mal patted Celia’s shoulder, and the six of us rushed up the stairs so Mal and her could get to Hades’ Lair and get what we needed so we could go.

Of course, nothing’s that easy on the Isle on the Lost. Really, all of us should have known what was going to happen if we left those bikes unguarded and outside, but there had been more pressing things on our minds when we’d arrived. And as a result, when we emerged, a certain set of pirates had jumped on our bikes, and were waiting, taunting us by revving the engines.

“Wow! Rookie mistake?” Carlos sighed, throwing one hand up in frustration.

“Long time, nay see.” My heart stopped for a moment as my eyes met with the leader of the group, and I felt Carlos reach over and squeeze my arm. Somehow, through the haze of past-trauma’s ghost, I straightened myself and stared down at the person who knew they’d gotten on my bike in particular.

“Get off my bike, Hook,” I growled, starting to run after them.

“Catch me if you can, Hera!”

They rounded the corner faster than we could, disappearing into some alleyway. I grunted in frustration, throwing my hands up. We needed those bikes in order to get back to Auradon, and even through the thought of facing Harry down caused my stomach to churn, I knew my own personal struggle wasn’t as important right now.

“Over the roofs,” Jay suggested, looking up toward the metal rooftops.

“Cut them off,” I concurred.

Evie, Carlos, Jay, and I all broke off into different directions, clamoring up various dumpsters and pipes to run along the roofs. A few residents poked their heads out the windows and shouted up at us, but I just chose to ignore it. The old Hera, the one that only knew life on the Isle, would have taken the time to stop and throw something at them or taunt them, but now, I knew I needed to hurry, for the good of Auradon.

I honestly never thought I’d be fighting for the good of anything.

The sounds of our engines grew louder, causing me to speed up, but the moment my feet touched on the ground, it was as though they suddenly disappeared. On the Isle of the Lost, that really didn’t seem so improbable, but I highly doubted Harry and Gil were smart enough to figure out complex magic like that. Even Mal hadn’t figured out a spell of that gravity, and she’d taken after her mother.

Jay, Carlos, and Evie quickly caught up with me, staring down the alley just like I had a moment ago. All of us had lost them, so continuing to run after where we _presumed_ they went wouldn’t do us any good. But we needed those bikes in order to get back to Auradon.

“What are we supposed to do now?” I whined, leaning my head against Carlos’ shoulder. He hesitated for a moment, before reaching over and patting some of my hair. I laughed a little at his awkwardness, and thankfully, that lightened the mood a little.

“I guess all we can really do is wait for Mal and Celia,” Evie sighed. “Once they get the ember, we get Mal to get them to give us our bikes back, and we get out of here.” My fists started to clench as I straightened.

“This isn’t fair,” I growled. “They think they can just pick on us and push us around ‘cuz we’re not like them anymore.”

“Not to mention that Harry—“

“--thinks he can just push me around because I _used_ to be scared of him,” I snapped, whirling around to glare at Jay. “The past isn’t still the truth, I’m not afraid of him anymore. I still hate him for what he did, but that’s not the same as being scared. He doesn’t have the right to just get on my motorcycle like that and drive off, taunting and teasing me like he was just some childhood bully.”

At this point, all my friends had backed up quite a few feet, not wanting to get caught in the storm I’d been brewing. I paused in my rant for a moment and looked around at them, slowly bringing my mind back to Earth. With a sigh, my shoulders slumped, and the three of them immediately rushed back to my side, wrapping their arms around me.

“God, I hate him,” I muttered as I rested my head on Evie’s arm.


	6. Chapter 6

“Hey, guys.”

I drifted my eyes up, the tiniest hint of a smile forming on my face as I spotted Mal and Celia emerging from around the corner. The former held a blue stone in her hand, the ends of her hair now suddenly matching. Or maybe it was just something I never noticed before? Mal had a habit of making little changes to her color schemes all the time.

“Still no bikes?” Celia sighed, crossing her arms.

“We lost them at some point,” Jay informed them. “They rounded a corner and then just… poof.” Mal’s jaw dropped a little, as though shocked at how we managed to lose them (given the circumstances), but ultimately, she managed to bring herself back from her moment.

“Okay, that’s fine, it’s fine.” She sounded as though she were trying to reassure herself more than the rest of us. “We can figure something out. Let’s just… get to the gate and open the barrier. We can go from there.”

Subconsciously, Carlos reached out for my hand, squeezing it a little as we approached the barrier. I managed to look over at him for a moment and flash him a small smile, as though that would just make the previous outburst I had go away. Hopefully, Mal really had another way to get back to Auradon because otherwise, we’d be trapped here for a while. Even if Harry and Gil emerged again and came to taunt us, they weren’t just going to give those things back to us, and as strong as we all were, even our higher numbers wouldn’t be enough to take them down.

“All right. Get in, get out. Jay, you’re good?”

“Yeah,” he confirmed.

“Okay. Hold on.”

Mal stuck her arms out in front of all of us, stopping us from moving any further. Jay reached into his pocket and removed the remote that looked more like it would be used to open a garage than a giant, magical barrier. Then again, the mere existence of magic and barrier was likely strange to someone who came from outside of Auradon and the Isle. Apparently, this and some other place in Scotland were the only real places where magic existed.

Imagine that.

The small hole formed in the barrier the moment Jay pushed the button, and with only a quick glance behind us to make sure there wasn’t anyone trying to sneak through with us, we all rushed to the other side. The moment we stepped onto the stone bridge, a surge of blue overtook Mal, and the blue I’d noticed before became brighter and more noticeable. I had to admit, the blue and purple looked _really_ good on her.

“Whoa. You got a little Hades thing going on,” I marveled, reaching out and batting some of her blue hair.

“Wow,” Evie sighed, almost as though she were in a dream.

“That thing packs a punch, huh?”

Suddenly, there was the sound of two bodies thudding behind us, and when we whipped around, Harry and Gil shot up. They stared at the barrier for a moment, just as it closed, then turned to each other with wide, goofy smiles.

“We made it, bro,” Gil exclaimed, clearly ecstatic.

“We made it.”

They embraced for a moment, then turned around, as though just noticing we were here. Their eyes widened slightly as all of us stared at them with varying degrees of annoyance or anger.

“Hey, guys. We’re just coming for a wee visit.”

They tried to get closer to us, but Jay and Carlos pushed the pair back, seeming to try to keep them away from me in particular. Unfortunately, Harry and Gil weren’t the kind to back down that easily, and within only a few moments, Mal and Evie were helping to try and push them back. In the process, someone knocked Mal’s hand, and the Ember went tumbling onto the bridge. In a flash, Harry flicked his hook, and the Ember shot into the air one last time before plummeting into the water. My jaw dropped as all of us rushed to the edge of the bridge, trying to get a glimpse at where the Ember was going. Just before it splashed into the depths, a green tentacle shot up and wrapped around the small object. My eyes widened even further as the threatening figure of Uma emerged from the water, cackling and smirking at all of us.

“Drop something?” she taunted.

“It can’t get wet. Give it back before it goes out,” Mal begged, extending her arm out toward the tentacle.

“Uma?” Harry and Gil gasped at the same time, dumbfounded.

“That’s my name.”

With a final, menacing wave, her put her hands together above her head and fell back down under the water. Waves began to form around her as Mal cried out, swirling around a ball of yellow light. It grew as it spun, towering over us in a powerful vortex, before suddenly splashing up and dispersing. Once all of us unshielded our eyes, we looked back down into the water, but Uma had disappeared.

“Hi, boys.” All of us jumped and whipped around, finding Uma standing there with the Ember still glowing in her hand. Harry pointed his hook toward her, a broad smile stretching onto his face.

“Welcome back.”

“Uma, you swam off and forgot all about us,” Gil lamented, shooting her an accusing look.

“Yeah. Planning her revenge, no doubt,” Mal snapped, glaring daggers at Uma. For a split second, I met eyes with Harry, and as he smirked, I felt my heart jump in my throat. I tried my best not to react and remain stone-faced, but I swore my eyes flickered downward quickly enough that I didn’t notice.

“It’s not all about you, Mal. I was looking for a hole in the barrier to let everybody out.” She turned back to her two lackeys. “And do you know what I found, boys? It’s way better out there than we thought. There’s this thing that looks like a furry rock called a coconut. And fish so big you could dance on their backs. And they’ve been keeping it all for themselves.”

I rolled my eyes at Uma’s attempts to guilt-trip us. We may not be evil anymore, but that didn’t mean we were soft.

“Whatever,” Mal dismissed. “Uma, I need that to break a spell.”

“Cast by Audrey,” I finished, “Sleeping Beauty’s daughter.” For a moment, Uma looked genuinely shocked.

“Mm. So the good guy is the bad guy?” Unfortunately, her shock faded away, and that sinister smirk crawled back onto her face as she cackled for what felt like the millionth time within this conversation. “Well, I might not give it back. Let’s see what happens.”

“Uma, it’s not the time for games!” I stiffened slightly, moving one of my legs forward a little bit in case we needed to jump after the Ember suddenly. “People’s lives are in danger!”

My stomach churned as she began to back up, getting closer to the edge of the bridge.

“Guarantee me that every single villain kid who wants to, can get off the Isle.”

“I can’t do that.” I raised an eyebrow at Mal. If any one of us could have that sort of pull, it was her. Why wouldn’t she think that she could give Uma that guarantee? I suppose Auradon wouldn’t see it as safe, not after Hades’ attempt at getting through, but couldn’t Mal just let Uma through, then go through the usual selection process with the other kids?

“Can’t do that?” Frustrated, Uma stretched her arm out and dangled the glowing Ember above the water. “Well, how about now?”

“Deal,” Mal answered hurriedly. “Deal.”

Despite the agreement, Uma crouched down suddenly, acting as though she were about to drop the Ember. The six of us cried out and lunged forward, only to scoff a moment later when Uma laughed at our gullibility.

“Her word is good,” Evie assured Uma. She hesitated for another moment, as though her stare could somehow break Mal, before finally retracting her arm and walking closer to us. For a moment, I actually thought she’d give us the Ember back, but instead, she slipped the blue gem into her jacket.

“I’ll still keep this, for the time being. Because if you think I trust you to save the world on your own, think again. This is a job for pirates!”

“Yeah!” Uma’s lackey’s cheered. Carlos and I exchanged wary glances, acknowledging the consequences of Uma coming along with us. I didn’t want to suddenly have to be on the same team as Harry, but if it meant saving Auradon, I guess I really had no choice.

“We can always go back to hating each other when this is over,” Jay muttered, as though that somehow would just make everything less daunting. Mal waited another moment, rolling her eyes, before caving.

“Fine.”

“Where are our bikes?” I demanded, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, yeah. We crashed them,” Gil boasted, as though that were something to be proud of. Harry stepped forward and imitated the bikes going off a ledge, complete with an explosion before he laughed at what he deemed an accomplishment.

“Here’s a thought.” Evie stepped up, standing between our two groups. “We could try to be friends.” I scoffed immediately. “Put our history behind us and celebrate our differences.”

“Evie, you can’t expect me to be friends with _him_.” I sharply gestured to Harry. “Of all the things you could suggest…” I trailed off, shaking my head.

“Hera, you at least have to try,” she begged. Under any other circumstance, I’d of course do what Evie asked in a heartbeat. But this crossed all sorts of lines, not to mention took a reckless dive outside of my comfort zone. “Yeah?” She reached into her sleeve and pulled out a red, mesh bag with some blue gumballs inside. “Who wants gum?” Uma rolled her eyes, officially fed up with all this mushiness.

“Let’s go,” she ordered.

“No?”

“Ah.” Mal stuck up her index finger, catching Uma’s attention and causing her to stop. “No. I’m in charge. Let’s go.”

Carlos wrapped an arm around my shoulders as Harry stalked threateningly close to me, almost taunting me with a sinister smile. This was a _huge_ mistake, and Evie should have seen that. Her optimism and faith in people had been welcome when we all lived on the Isle, but now really wasn’t the time.

“So… how are we getting back?”


	7. Chapter 7

The other line continued to ring as I pressed my phone closer to my ear. I’d been trying to reach Aria for the past ten minutes, but every time, the rings just led to her answering machine. I attempted to put the fact Harry was walking not five feet behind me; I could feel him watching my every move.

After the twelfth time Aria’s cheery message interrupted the ringing, I hung up and slipped my phone back into my pocket, defeated. I’d been so occupied in attempting to reach my friend, I’d failed to notice the people at tables and on the grass, slumped over and curled up against themselves, quietly slumbering and completely unaware of what had happened to them. I stared in a mix of horror and awe, unsure of exactly how to feel about all of this.

“They’re asleep,” Mal sighed, hanging up her own attempt at a phone call. “Everyone. I can’t get Ben.”

“Or Dizzy, or Doug,” Evie added.

“Or Aria,” I finished. “The signal’s out.”

As the rest of us moved along, Celia suddenly stopped in her tracks. Her jaw dropped a little as she stared at the large castle in front of her, pointing at the structure.

“Is that Auradon Prep?” she asked, basking in the awe of the beautiful building. Carlos turned and glanced at it for a moment, then looked at her and smiled.

“Yeah. When everybody wakes up, you’re going to love it,” he assured her. As he turned around, the two of us shared a brief smile, then I went back to attempting to at least get a cell signal. I didn’t believe Mal when she said _everyone_ was asleep. There had to be a couple of people that somehow got missed by Audrey’s spell. Not to mention, if this was about Ben—which, why wouldn’t it be?—she definitely would at least keep him awake, if no one else.

I caught movement out of the corner of my eye, and when I turned around, I spotted Harry reaching into a sleeping boy’s pocket and removing his wallet, smirking as he reached in and pulled the money in it out.

“I believe I deserve some compensation for my muscles, my wile, and my role in this endeavor.”

No one else seemed to notice Harry snatch the money, but he couldn’t just get away with that. This is Auradon, that sort of thing isn’t acceptable… not that it was acceptable on the Isle, people just got away with it more often than not.

I took in a deep breath, trying to affirm to myself that he didn’t scare me, then marched over and grabbed the money out of his hands, causing him to whip around. He looked more annoyed than angry, but it still caused a little chill to run through me. I tried my best to just stand my ground and remember he couldn’t intimidate me anymore.

“You can’t just go around taking things,” I hissed. “This isn’t the Isle, all right? And while you’re here, you follow Auradon’s laws. Understood?” Instead of answering the way I’d hoped, that stupid smirk came back to his face, and he leaned down slightly, trying to get as close to my face as he could without me attempting to clock him.

“Well, well, well… look at you, putting your foot down. It’s adorable,” he taunted. Irritated, I just scoffed and turned back around.

“Dude!” Carlos exclaimed, running over to his little dog that had been licking something off a sleeping person’s hand. “Dude, really?” I rushed over to stand by Carlos, glancing down at Dude.

“What? It wasn’t me!” he protested. I shook my head, then rested it against my hand. “Okay, it was me.”

“Still so weird that your dog talks,” I muttered, turning my head to look up at Carlos.

“Hey, do you know what happened here?”

“Yup. Audrey showed up. She put everybody to sleep.”

My eyes widened a little as Dude confirmed the reports. I’d never really doubted it, given Audrey’s penitent for petty acts, but I couldn’t really understand why all this was happening. After we’d defeated Maleficent and my mother, Mal and her seemed to be on good terms. What went wrong?

“And then, she turned some of them into—“

“Guys,” Evie interrupted, drawing our attention to where she was standing. I gasped as my eyes rested on a girl… or what had once been a girl. Now, she’d become a grey, stone statue, frozen in place as she tried to run. It was horrific, a reminder that she had tried to flee and couldn’t succeed. “Hannah turned to stone.”

“All right, everybody stay on their toes,” I warned, my voice catching slightly in my throat.

“Look, since we’re here, let’s check the school,” Uma suggested. It wasn’t a terrible idea, as much as I hated to admit it, but the school seemed too easy. She’d know we’d go looking there, so why would she wait in such an obvious place?

“No. Audrey went straight for the crown, so, I think it’s safe to assume that she’s gonna go for Ben and his castle next,” Mal countered. Her theory held more water than Uma’s, definitely, but the motive still seemed slightly unclear. The fog was beginning to dissipate, however. “That’s where we’ll go.”

“Says who?” Uma challenged, getting up close to Mal’s face in an attempt to intimidate her.

“Says me.”

“Says you. And that’s supposed to mean something to me?”

“Guys.” Both girls turned to glare at Evie. She didn’t have to say anything, the look on her face told them exactly what she was thinking. Both of them rolled their eyes, and Mal broke away first, leading everyone in the opposite direction of Auradon Prep.

“To the castle,” she declared flatly. With reluctance, Uma’s crew followed behind us, occasionally glancing back at the school. For a moment, my mind wandered to Jon. If Audrey’s plan really had something to do with Ben, would she have spared Jon as well, or was he now peacefully slumbering, or hardened into stone? There was part of me that didn’t want to know, but if he was out there and needed saving, I at least owed him that, as his friend.

“Hera? You okay?” Carlos questioned, waving his hand in front of my face. I’d definitely spaced out a little as we were walking.

“Yep, I’m fine,” I sighed. “I just want to… do this, save everyone, and get it all overwith.”


	8. Chapter 8

“Ben!” Mal called out, waiting for her voice to finish echoing down the hall. She’d been shouting to him since we reached the castle, but so far, there had been no response. In fact, the castle had fallen strangely quiet. From the few times I came here, I recalled servants bustling about, cleaning and preparing food, while Belle and Beast were usually dashing from one room to the next, with little time to stop and say hello.

Dude rushed ahead of us, his nose pressed to the ground as he tracked some sort of scent. While the most likely explanation would be Ben, it could have been any number of people. Thought I more wanted the assurance my friend was safe, for Mal’s sake and peace of mind, it would be better if we found Ben.

“This way,” Dude encouraged, turning a corner and leading us down another carpeted hallway.

“Ben could be asleep somewhere,” Mal sighed, throwing her arms up a little. She tried her best not to show frustration when it hit, so her visible annoyance was a clear sign of just how distressed she was.

“Or turned to stone.” Almost immediately, Evie slapped her hand over Celia’s mouth as the rest of us turned to stare at her.

“Okay,” Evie whispered.

“Ben!” Mal shouted again, clearly growing more panicked after Celia’s suggestion.

“I got a scent!” Dude informed us, sounding proud of his accomplishment. “Very pungent cologne. Easy to track. Follow me, people!”

That _had_ to be Ben. The overwhelming smell that came off that man when he passed by was enough to make my eyes water. I really had no idea how Mal put up with it.

“That’s great, Dude!” Carlos looked so proud of his dog. The smile on his face was infectious, and I soon found myself grinning as well, despite the grim scenario around us.

“FYI, I give great cuddles, too.” I furrowed my brows a little and started to blink rapidly, something I knew I did when a curveball was thrown into a conversation.

“Really?” Gil sounded so mystified by the concept of a loving animal. “I never had a pet growing up. Well, except for the elk head in Dad’s man cave, but that wasn’t—“

“Hold up,” Uma interrupted, stopping everyone in their tracks.

She traced her finger along some strange marks scratched into the wooden panels on the wall. They almost looked like claw marks, which was further supported by the old map of Auradon that had been cut in half. with part of it now on the floor. Curious, I stepped a little closer, pressing my hands against the indents in the wall. After a few seconds, Carlos pulled me back a little and pointed to the markings.

“Uh… Any chance this was already there?” he asked, his voice crackling a little out of fear. I reached up and squeezed one of his hands, attempting to reassure him. Defeated, Mal looked at both of the walls, seeming more confused than ever. Not that I blamed her.

“And follow me.” Dude tried his best to draw our attention away from the potential that whatever this was could have been sent after Ben.

“Ben!”

Dude led us all the way to the armory, a room Jon had said on multiple occasions was off-limits. However, I think an exception could be made in this situation. Besides, it’s not like Belle or Adam, or one of the guards, would come to shoo us away.

“Stay here, okay?” Evie whispered to Celia as the rest of us dispersed to check the individual suits of armor. Maybe he had ducked into one to escape from Audrey? Although, that would take quite a bit of effort, and make a significant amount of noise, so it didn’t seem like the most logical solution. Still, when you’re running from something, anything is better than being out in the open.

I wandered over to a suit of armor, admiring the way it caught the colored light filtering in from the stained glass windows looming above us. It stood tall as a tree, giving an almost intimidating feel to something that wouldn’t move unless worn by someone. There was part of me that wondered what it would be like to don one of them, but the more logical side of me knew it was _far_ too heavy, even for the strongest person. Still, the glint of the metal pulled me in.

“I bet you lost some sleep thinking about me on the loose?” I heard Uma taunt from behind me. She and Mal wandered down the center of the armory, checking for any sort of movement from any of the suits.

“No. Dragons don’t really lose sleep,” Mal shot back, trying to seem completely unbothered by what Uma had just said. “I wonder what fried octopus tastes like.”

“Okay. Why don’t we not do this?” Evie cut in, exasperated.

“We’re celebrating our differences.” Uma threw Evie’s words back in her face.

There was a sudden creak from in front of us, and when I looked up, I watched the once immobile suit of armor turn and stare in Gil’s direction.

“I believe we’re being challenged,” Harry interjected, trying to catch the girls’ attentions. Instead, Uma rolled her eyes and stuck her hand up to silence him.

“Let’s split up and look for Audrey,” she suggested.

“That makes absolutely no sense!” Mal argued, most likely just for the sake of not agreeing with Uma. “Unless you give me my ember, she’s going to spell you.”

The suit of armor moved again, taking a firm stance and moving the sword in its hands slightly.

“Girls!” Harry shouted, once again trying to catch their attentions. Finally, they stopped their senseless bickering and turned their attentions to him. “We have a situation here.” The armor moved again, seeming to bow to us. A strange, pink mist flowed from the holes in the helmet, likely the source of its newfound life.

_“Do you like a prince, Mal?”_ Audrey’s voice came from inside the armor. My fists clenched as I stared it down. Of course she’d found us, she has that stupid scepter. _“How about a knight in shining armor? Or… knights?”_

Audrey’s cackling faded away as the suit of armor completely sprung to life, along with all of the others in the armory. I backed up slightly, shooting one arm out in front of Carlos, as though that would somehow protect him from a bunch of sentient armor with extremely sharp swords.

“Watch your back! Watch your back!” we all shouted to each other, backing toward the center of the room.

“We can counter their attacks,” Mal encouraged, trying to ease our minds so we could fight these things.

“Hit ‘em ‘till the armor cracks!” Celia shouted, picking Dude up and pulling him against her chest. All of us, except for Uma, tried to run for the exit, but two suits beat us to the doorway and blocked it with their swords, leaving us with no choice but to stay and fight. Not that we had the means to at the moment.

“This could get a little sticky.” Despite her statement, Uma seemed strangely optimistic. She pointed toward a set of swords resting against the wall, drawing our attentions to them. “How to win this battle could be tricky.” Gil and Harry rushed over to them and began distributing the weapons, while the rest of us tried our best to hold the armor back without getting hit. Seemingly without thinking, he passed a sword into my hands and took a stance next to me

“Thanks,” I muttered. Only a second later, our awareness came back, and with a sneer, I marched to the other side of the room.

“But I know the best way. Fall back, let me lead.” Did Uma really think we’d just blindly follow her like that? After all she’d tried to do to us? No way, not in a million years. “You hold the line, and we’ll bring them to their knees.”

One of the suits of armor lunged for me, swinging its sword in the direction of my head. Thinking fast, I ducked and then shot up, swinging the sword out. The suit stuck its own weapon up and blocked the blow, continuing to deflect my attacks each time I tried. At least I was maybe getting somewhere?

“Swords in the air if you’re with me!” Mal called, pushing Uma of the platform. Between swings, I thrust my weapon into the air and cried out, showing my support for my longtime friend. “They got us outnumbered, one to fifty.” I glanced around for a second, raising an eyebrow before jumping out of the way of a horizontal swing. Mal _definitely_ was exaggerating a bit. “The victory is ours because I’ve got a strategy. “You can take the left,” she pushed Uma a little, “and the rest of you can follow me.”

Not one to just take the abuse and move on, Uma stepped back up and got in Mal’s face. Realizing I couldn’t just beat this armor as it was, I stepped back a little moving toward the center platform and taking my place next to Carlos.

“This is my crew,” Mal defended before Uma could even get one word in.

“Look, this is my squad.”

“This is my turf.”

“Oh, my gosh!” Evie stepped between the two and pushed them apart. “Look, guys, we’ve got bigger fish to fry,” she pointed out. “Put your differences aside, ‘cause right now, we’re on the same side.” With one last glare at each other, Mal and Uma cooperated.

This time, the armor came to us, making it a little easier to take multiple on at once. One of them swung at me, just barely missing my shoulder, and I leaned back against the platform, using the stability against my back to launch my feet forward. Although the armor didn’t fall, it stumbled back a bit, giving me an opportunity to lunge forward and swing. I managed to strike it on its shoulder, causing it to collapse for just a moment. As I turned to deal with the next one, I watched Carlos’ sword fly out of his hands and slide across the floor, completely out of his reach. Slightly panicked, I leaned over and pushed back the armor that attempted to strike him, while Celia took a shield off the wall and slid it to him.

“You got this?” I asked, looking him in the eyes before he blocked another attack from the armor in front of him.

“I got this,” he assured me.

Just a moment later, the armor moved away, taking formation on the opposite end of the room. The sentient metal beat on their chests at the same time, slowly inching closer in an attempt to intimidate us, but Mal and Uma wouldn’t let that get to them. The two of them lunged for the leader of the armor at the same time, and when their swords struck the armor’s, fingers of lightning rippled through them, causing them to be stunned for just a moment. I watched Mal’s face shift as something clicked in her mind, and she quickly ran back up onto the platform as her eyes turned green.

“Suit of armor, strong and true, make this metal bust a move!”

A strange spell to use in this serious scenario, but it proved to be effective. Mal began to move her hips back and forth, and just a few moments later, the armor began to copy her, distracted and rendered useless enough for us to be able to attack it. Uma and Carlos tried it out as well, just to prove it worked, then all of us began to dance. The armor didn’t know what to do, unable to handle so many ‘orders’ coming in at once, and we took our chance to kick them all back. I backed up as the armor began to fall and crumble, hitting someone’s back and stumbling a little. Thankfully, all of us stopped moving at the same time, and the suits of armor collapsed, once again lifeless.

Relief washed over me as I turned around and high-fived the person I’d backed into, excited we’d finally finished this and could move on to find Ben. It wasn’t until we pushed away from each other that I realized the person I’d been celebrating with was Harry, and as quickly as the moment came, we both made sounds of disgust and backed away. I made my way over to Carlos’ side and he pulled me against him, trying to protect me from a danger that had passed.

“Guys, come on,” Evie whined as we broke off into our usual groups to celebrate. “This was so great. We were a team. We worked together. Come on.” She tried to get Uma and Mal to shake hands, but they both flinched when she tried to grab their hands. Evie only remained defeated for a moment, however. “You know what we should try? An icebreaker.” Mal rolled her eyes as Evie turned toward Uma and her pirates. “You say something you really like about the other person, okay? I’ll start. Harry. Great accent. Now you go.”

“Is she always this perky?” Uma groaned.

“Oh, it wasn’t really your turn, but thank you.”

“Okay, Evie come here.” Mal reached out and spun her best friend around, taking her hands. “I love you.”

“I love _you_.”

“I love this energy,” she lied, “but we are _very_ short on time. Audrey clearly knows that we’re here and we need to get out of here, ASAP.”

“All right, where does this cheerleader bunk down?” Uma stepped forward, trying to get us back on track. “Even if she’s not there, we might find some sort of clue.”

“Actually, she’s still in the dorms.”

“You’re right. Because of summer school.” Mal seemed a little too happy Audrey was in summer school.

“What?” Harry laughed. “Summer school? Summer school! No wonder she wants revenge!”

“Okay, I need you guys to go find Ben,” she instructed Uma’s group. “We will meet back at Evie’s in two hours, okay?”

“Sounds like we’re going with my plan. I’m just saying.”

“It was kind of the obvious plan.”

“Uma said it first,” Gil observed.

“Right. So my plan. Right?”

“Whatever.”

Frustrated, the two girls stormed out of the armory and headed toward the castle doors, forcing the rest of us to follow. I was about to head toward Auradon Prep, when Evie grabbed my shoulders and spun me around.

“Hera, I think you should go with the guys.” Her eyes moved up, and when I followed her gaze, I noticed her staring at Harry.

“Are you kidding me, Evie? This situation isn’t just us not liking each other. It’s a little deeper than that,” I growled.

“You don’t have to forgive him, and you definitely don’t have to forget. But maybe, just try and be civil?”

Though I wanted to shout at her and storm away, the pleading look in her eyes, turned me around. I found it so hard to say no to Evie.

“Fine. But if this goes south, it’s on you.”

As I followed the guys into the woods, I passed Harry, momentarily glaring at him before running up and taking Carlos’ hand, following in stride beside him.


	9. Chapter 9

I tried my best not to trip as I marched up a mulch-covered hill. We’d been searching for Ben for what felt like hours, but in reality had just likely been a few minutes. Regardless, having to work with Harry and be in the same vicinity as him didn’t exactly make me want to keep going. The only reason I put up with it was because I cared about Mal, and she wanted us to find Ben, so that’s what I would do.

“Dude.” Carlos kneeled down and clapped his hands, summoning his dog back to him. “Come on. Nothing?”

“Nope.” I sighed, placing a hand on my boyfriend’s shoulder. We’d stopped momentarily, just to catch our breath, so I didn’t want to sit down and risk not wanting to get back up.

“These things just grow everywhere.” Gil made his way over to a bush with wild berries and picked a couple off, popping them into his mouth. My eyes widened, hoping they weren’t poisonous, but his demeanor didn’t change at all.

I had to admit, he could be a little lacking sometimes, but of all of Uma’s friends, I hated Gil the least.

“Hey, we should play that icebreaker,” he suggested. “Um, Jay, I like the way you can bounce around and jump off things.” Jay seemed caught off-guard for a moment, but ultimately smiled a little, his defenses falling down a little. “These are free, right?”

“Yeah. Um…” Jay made his way over to Gil and laughed awkwardly, trying to come up with something to say back. “I like how you can get a kick out of a berry bush.” The two of them laughed again, but Gil’s expression quickly fell before he popped another berry into his mouth.

“I guess you’ve probably seen everything by now, huh? Furry rocks, giant fish. You’re probably used to grabbing lunch off a bush.”

“No. I mean, no, not really,” Jay confessed. “I mainly just use the vending machines at practice. You know, Tourney kind of eats up most of my time. So…” From the trees, Harry’s laughter cut through the genuinely sweet moment.

“Tourney, that’s a wee boy’s game,” he taunted. The two of them glanced at Harry in disapproval for a moment, but quickly turned back to their conversation. I tried my best to hold back a satisfied smirk as Harry’s expression fell.

“Hey, you know what would be fun? To go rafting on a jungle river,” Gil suggested.

“Find a lost civilization.”

“Oh, or maybe a penguin.” Jay paused for a moment, seemingly confused by Gil’s lack of a grasp on basic geography, but it really didn’t deter him at all.

“Oh, well, you’d find those more in, like, icebergs, but I’d love to see one of those.”

“You guys are killing me,” Harry groaned, stepping in between the two of them. For a moment, my bravery rose, and I turned and crossed my arms.

“Come on, Harry. Just because you’re incapable of making a genuine human connection doesn’t mean you should interrupt theirs.”

I expected Harry to shoot back with some sort of low blow, or at least get up in my face in an attempt to intimidate me, but instead, he just shook his head and started to walk away. Confused, Carlos and I exchanged a glance, unsure of how to take that. I hadn’t expected such a mild response from Harry.

“P.S., your mutt went that way.” He glanced back at Carlos, pointing out in front of us. For a second the two of us glanced at our feet. Neither of us had realized Dude had slipped away when we weren’t paying attention. Carlos reached for my hand as he shot up, pulling me along behind him as we rushed after Dude.

“Carlos!” we heard Dude cry out in the distance.

“Dude, what do you see?”

“This way!”

As we followed the small dog through the woods, Carlos and I called out Ben’s name, hoping he was conscious and able to make his way over to us. I had to keep an eye on the ground every now and then, given how many trees had fallen and blocked our path, but thankfully, none of them were big enough to completely keep us from following Dude.

“Boy, something stinks,” Dude remarked. “And it wasn’t me this time.”

Suddenly, something jumped out from the trees and growled, startling all of us. All of us stumbled back, huddling close together as it turned to face us. It stood on two legs, like a person, but the face was covered in fur, not unlike a dog or wolf. Just as we started to recover from the scare, it growled at us again and took a swipe at our faces. As all of us backed up, I somehow got pushed over and went tumbling to the ground. As the creature turned around and snarled at me, I tried to push myself up, but found my legs and arms had basically turned to jelly.

Stupid adrenaline.

Just as it tried to lunge for me, someone stepped in front of me and pushed it away, causing it to fall over the tree on the ground and collapse on the ground. My eyes widened in surprise as Harry turned around and pulled me up by my shoulders, standing a little in front of me to keep the creature from trying to attack again.

Unfortunately for us, it got back up again, now more enraged from being pushed around a couple of times. Thinking fast, I reached forward and pulled on Harry’s arm, getting him out of the way just as the creature jumped out in our direction.

“You need some serious nose adjustments,” he snapped at Dude as the creature pulled its paw close to its body, as though trying to protect it.

“I’m not so sure.” Jay pointed to what the creature was wearing. My heart stopped for a moment as I glanced at the logo on the blue and gold uniform. We should have known…

“Ben,” Carlos whispered. “Did Audrey do this?”

“Huh! I thought I recognized those pants.” I raised an eyebrow and looked over at Jay, shaking my head. Ben stumbled back a little more, glancing down at the blood on the paw he’d been protecting.

“Oh, he’s got a boo-boo,” Gil observed. “That’s why he’s so cranky. You know, my dad said his dad did not handle pain well at all.”

“Okay, not the time Gil,” I warned as Ben snarled and leaned in closer to us, his eyes narrowing again. “You’re good with animals,” I whispered to Carlos. “Do something.” He glanced at me, dumbfounded. “I’ll make sure you don’t get hurt.”

“But…” He sighed, giving in. “Okay. All right.”

I kept a close eye on Ben as Carlos moved around the other side of the ledge he stood on, carefully approaching. I tensed and took a few steps in Ben’s direction as he snapped his gaze to Carlos and growled.

“Hey, Ben.” Despite the precarious situation, Carlos made sure to keep his voice calm and steady. “It’s me, Carlos, all right?”

For a moment, it seemed to be working, but when Carlos got just a little too close, Ben lunged out and tried to swipe at him, causing Carlos to jump back. I ran up to his side and pulled him back a little, trying to keep him from getting cut up. We both stood there, trying to catch our breath as we stared at our friend, until he seemed to calm down, and I let go.

“Ben! Ben! It’s Carlos, all right? You know me.” He kept one hand out in front of him, keeping a slight distance between the two of them. “You helped me once. Remember, with Dude?” It actually seemed to be working this time, thankfully. “Right? Let me help you. Come on, let me see your hand.”

Finally, Ben removed his hand from his torso and held it out to Carlos, revealing a large thorn stuck right in the middle of it. Gently, Carlos reached out and placed one hand on the back of his paw, while he positioned the other to remove the nuisance.

“All right. Attaboy,” he encouraged. “Beast… king… So, whatever.” He focused his attention back on Ben’s paw. “Oh, yeah, that’s a big one. Uh…” He glanced back at me for a moment, and I nodded, encouraging him on while letting him know I was here if things went wrong. “I’m gonna count, all right? One…” He hesitated, as though forgetting what came next.

“Two,” I muttered, trying to help.

“Two…”

Before reaching three, he yanked the bloody thorn from his hand, causing Ben to cry out in pain. Carlos quickly took cover by me as I stepped forward a bit, ready to push Ben back if it were necessary.

However, before he got the chance, two figures appeared behind Jay, Harry, and Gil, and one of them fired water at Ben. As it made contact with him, it began to sparkle, and after quite a few shots, the fur began to melt away, leaving Ben standing in front of us.

Well, Ben with a beard and some weird fangs in place of his canines.


	10. Chapter 10

With the danger resolved, I looked over at the pair who had changed Ben back, and a wide smile spread onto my face. Relieved, I pushed past Carlos and sprinted at the two, wrapping them into a hug.

“Hey,” laughed, pushing back and smiling at Jane and Jon. “Oh, my gosh, I was so worried.”

“You didn’t show up.” Despite Jane’s words, she honestly didn’t seem that upset that we’d missed her birthday party.

“I didn’t forget your party,” I assured her.

“I got scared she got you, too.”

“I’m so glad you’re both all right.” I reached forward and hugged them again, before Carlos and Jay came down the hill, helping Ben. The former came over and wrapped an arm around his waist, and I smiled up at him.

“That was a really brave thing you did back there.” I smiled, turning to face him. “I wouldn’t say I’m surprised, but I’m definitely impressed.”

“Thanks for the support.” I sighed and leaned against him as he pulled me into a hug, planting a kiss on the top of my head.

“You good?” Jay asked the man on his arm as he led him over to one of the downed trees. “Take a seat right there, okay? There you go.” He helped lower Ben to sit down, and once they both were comfortable, the latter began to laugh.

“Oh, that was funky,” he sighed, looking around at all of us.

“It was. There’s…” Jay gestured to his chin and teeth, prompting Ben to do the same.

“Huh? Oh, wow.” Honestly, Ben seemed pretty calm, given what just happened.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” He and Jay began to laugh again, and from beside me, I heard Jane and Jon chuckle as well.

“You need another blast.” Jane held up the water gun she’d used before, but when she shot water at Ben, nothing happened, leaving him in the same state he was before, just soaking wet.

“Huh.” After a moment, she shrugged. “It’s Enchanted Lake water. I guess it can only do so much.”

“ _Please_ tell me that’s not genetic,” Jon groaned, staring at his brother.

“No,” Ben assured, standing up and meeting his brother halfway.

It was strange. In all these years of knowing them, I don’t think I’d ever really seen Jon and Ben interact, save for a few sparse conversations. This was the first time I’d seen them really acting like _brothers_ , checking on each other and hugging. It just confirmed I’d made the right choice in forgiving Jon.

With that still on my mind, I glanced over at Harry, who was sulking against a tree. Gently, I pat Carlos’ chest, getting him to release me. Strangely, I didn’t feel any sort of hesitance or hatred as I approached Harry, looking up at him quizzically.

“Are you okay?” I asked, finding it slightly strange how much I cared.

“What?” He, too, seemed pretty shocked I actually wanted to check up on him.

“Did you get hurt at all? Or are you okay?” After another moment of tense silence, he nodded and answered me.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“Mm-hmm.”

I awkwardly turned away, unsure of how to deal with this sort of situation, but I didn’t get much time to think about it. Just as I looked back at the group, Jon’s eyes bounced between Harry and I, and his gaze darkened as he stared.

“Wait a minute… He’s…”

I reached an arm out and pushed Jon back as he charged in our direction, trying to swing at Harry. Not that he would have been able to do much at all, but I’d rather diffuse the situation before it really started.

“Relax, Jon. We’re…”

I glanced at the pirate again, unsure of what to say at first. We certainly weren’t friends, nor would we really ever be, and we weren’t even civil. But I didn’t completely hate and resent him, so I supposed that was a start.

“…not angry anymore.” With that, I released him and headed back over to Carlos, grabbing his hand, nodding toward a shortcut I knew of. “Come on, we should head to Evie’s. The rest of the girls are waiting for us there.”

“Hold on.” I stopped in my tracks, turning and watching as Ben pointed at Harry in particular. “What side are they on?” Jay pat his back, as though that somehow would make all of this less confusing.

“They escaped and joined us. And Mal has the Ember, which is our only hope to stop Audrey. Details to follow.”

“Hades’ Ember?” Ben seemed strangely educated on the subject. “Has Mal gone back to the Isle?”

“I said details to follow. We’re meeting up with, Mal, Evie, and Uma. Let’s go.”

“Uma?” Jon scoffed. I groaned in annoyance and leaned against Carlos’ shoulder. This was going terribly already.

“Details to follow!” everyone shouted, trying to get the brothers to move along. Thankfully, that shut them up, and we all headed back towards Evie’s.

As we approached Evie’s castle, the doors suddenly flew open, and Mal came running out. Ben immediately perked his head up and extended his arms up, wrapping Mal into a tight hug as he lifted her off the ground a little. I made my way over to Evie and Celia, falling into their embrace. We’d just gone through a lot, and the worst still seemed like it was yet to come, but at least all our friends were safe for now.

“How did it go?” Evie asked. She seemed almost regretful for the situation she’d put me in, her eyes scanning my face worriedly. I laughed a little and shook my head.

“It wasn’t… the worst thing that could have happened. I mean, we can’t ever be friends again, I just can’t do that, but…” For a moment, I glanced over at Harry and Uma as he pulled her close. What was going on there? “… maybe I won’t try to kill him if we’re in the same room together anymore.”

“Well, it’s a start.” She hugged me again. “I’m glad you guys are okay.”

“I’m glad you’re okay, too.”

“Okay, so we all think Audrey could be at Fairy Cottage.” Mal spoke just loud enough so that all of us could hear her. “We have no idea where it is. Did she ever take you there?” Sometimes, I completely forgot Audrey and Ben once dated.

“Every Fairy Godmother’s Day,” he sighed. “Where is Fairy Godmother when you need her?” We all looked to Jane, but she shrugged, a slightly sad expression crossing her face.

“I wish I knew.” I made my way over to her and hugged her side, attempting to offer her some reassurance before Mal and Ben began to split all of us off.

“Doug! Go with Jane. We need to find Fairy Godmother.” I stepped away from the girl and stood between Evie and Celia, waiting to find out what we were doing. I figured I’d be going with Mal and Ben to Fairy Cottage, but you never know. Jane might need some extra help.

“I-I can go with her, too,” Jon suggested, stepping up to stand beside her. I raised an eyebrow, bouncing my eyes between them. Jon seemed _incredibly_ eager to help Jane out, but really, if something was going on, it wasn’t my business.

“They might need some muscle,” Uma pointed out, grabbing Ben’s arm.

“Hey,” Doug whined, seemingly offended for a moment.

“I’ll go with him,” Gill offered, still holding a tangerine in one hand.

“Yeah, actually, I would feel better,” Jon muttered, seeming a little reluctant.

“Yeah, actually, I would feel better, too,” Evie stepped in, smiling at Doug. I knew she wouldn’t want to emasculate him, but she also knew his limits better than the rest of us. Doug looked around at all of us before sighing, his shoulders drooping.

“Same,” I admitted, trying to keep my voice low.

“Actually, I would, too,” Doug relented. Gil set an arm around Doug’s shoulders.

“All right, man, let’s do it!” he exclaimed. “Let’s go, Jane.”

After that group headed off, the rest of us went back into Evie’s castle, waiting for Ben to give us directions and Mal’s orders so we could hopefully find Audrey—or some clues—and end this nightmare.


	11. Chapter 11

By the time we reached Fairy Cottage, the sun had long set, and lantern light glowed from inside, spilling out of the window. Were it not for the fact we were chasing someone that posed a real threat to our safety and the entirety of Auradon, the place could have been inviting. But instead, the yellow lighting came of as deceitful and ominous. All of us pressed against two trees right by the path to the cabin, making sure no one was coming down it before we entered.

As quietly as possible, we all crept forward again, then allowed Mal and Ben to go toward the gate to get it open before the rest of us came to meet them. We all glanced at each other, taking one last moment to make sure everyone was on the right page, then Ben threw the door open. The rest of us had been ready to fight against Audrey, but the place had been completely abandoned. Not that it was completely surprising. If Audrey knew when we were in the armory, then I was sure she knew we were on our way to Fairy Cottage and abandoned ship.

Just to make sure, Jay ran up the stairs, while the rest of us checked behind furniture and under tables.

“She’s not upstairs,” Jay informed us as he came back down.

I sighed and leaned against the table, feeling slightly defeated. We’d come all this way, only to find out it had been a wild goose chase.

We all jumped suddenly as something, or someone, began banging on the closet door. I backed up a little, getting closer to Carlos and Celia as Mal and Ben glanced at each other, as though daring the other to open the door. Eventually, Ben made the move toward the closet, while Mal held the rest of us back. Ben removed the bar on the door, and in one, swift motion, he yanked the door open.

Chad sat on the floor, his knees pulled into his chest as he rocked back and forth, muttering to himself. His eyes were wide with some sort of trauma as he attempted to reassure himself.

“Chad?” Ben gasped, shocked.

What on Earth was he doing in there?

“I want my mommy,” he whispered. Ben reached in and tried to help Chad up, but he flinched and backed away. “It’s okay. What happened, buddy?” Chad glanced at all of us with wide eyes, as though he couldn’t remember who any of us were.

“Hmm.” He glanced at the man next to him, and straightened a little more. “Ben. Ben!” He gasped and got a little too close, putting a hand on Ben’s beard. “Your face. She’s gone? Huh?” He sneered at the rest of us, though none of us flinched. “The door is open. I’m free. Freedom! Oh!”

Without another word, Chad dashed out the door, like a dog freed from its cage after the owner comes home. When I thought about it, his response and mindset actually indicated something pretty dark, and for once, I actually found myself feeling bad for Chad.

“Freedom,” Ben repeated, still slightly dumbfounded. Harry, on the other hand, just started to laugh, as would be expected. With no sign of Audrey and the lingering confusion of what just happened, all of us headed back out of Fairy Cottage. The next logical place to check would be the castle again. Maybe Audrey made her way back there. Still, we needed to meet back up with Jane, Jon, Doug, and Gil again, to see if that found Fairy Godmother… one way or the other, I suppose.

As we made our way back down the path, Carlos reached out and grabbed my hand, pulling me closer against him. A blush crept onto my face, and I looked up at him, smiling. He had this strange smile on his face, similar to one someone would have when looking back on something nostalgic.

“What?” I asked, laughing a little. He shook his head and then kissed me on the top of mine.

“Nothing, nothing.” I scoffed, knowing he was lying, but chose to ignore it. There were more pressing things than whatever was on Carlos’ mind at the moment.

“All right. Let’s get this Audrey chick taken care of already,” Uma declared, speaking what was on everyone else’s minds. “What do you say, girls? Time to wrap things up?”

“Couldn’t agree with you more, Uma,” I shouted from the back of the group. She turned around and pointed at me while nodding, as though to say ‘she gets it’.

“You know, someday, you’re gonna have to tell me how you guys all got teamed up,” Ben said, squeezing his fiancée’s shoulder.

“Actually, Mal promised to let all the kids off the Isle once this is over,” Evie answered. Strangely, Mal and Ben began to slow down before stopping completely, and Mal wouldn’t meet Ben’s confused expression. What was going on here?

“I have to tell you guys something.” I cocked my head slightly as Mal turned to face the rest of us. For a moment, she had trouble meeting our eyes, tipping me off something really wasn’t right. “Um… I lied to you. The kids won’t be coming off the Isle.”

My jaw dropped down slightly as a mixture of anger and betrayal washed over me. In all my life, I thought one of the few people I could rely on to never lie to me would be Mal. Not to mention that she had made such a big promise to not keep it. Those kids were miserable on that island, and now, they wouldn’t get the chance at the freedom they’d been taunted with. How could she do that to the people who she had once been part of?

“What do you mean?” Jay asked, still clearly in denial this was real.

“The program is shut down. And the barrier… will be closed for good.” Behind me, I heard Harry grunt, as though the suspicions in the back of his mind were confirmed, and he wasn’t pleased.

“For Auradon’s safety,” Ben added, as though that would make things better. There was silence for a moment, then Uma shook her head and stepped up close to Mal.

“Hold up. So we’re saving your precious people and your behinds for a lie.” Mal stuttered, unable to find the right words to talk herself out of this. “I knew it was a mistake to trust you. You’re always out for yourself.”

“And _you_ , King Benny…” Harry looked, for a moment, as though he were about to attack Ben, but once his momentary anger faded, his expression fell, and I heard his voice break. “…you’re probably just gonna throw us all back inside.”

Celia broke away from the group next, and although she was small, her approach seemed just as intimidating. 

“You know what? I actually thought you were brave. You’re nothing but a chicken,” Celia spat. “Too scared to tell me I was never gonna see my dad again.”

“Celia…”

Celia reached into Mal’s hand and snatched the ember from it, throwing it into the bird bath beside her. The ember sparked and spattered before producing a large plume of smoke, rendering it completely useless.

“No!” Mal reached in and pulled the ember out, which really now was nothing more than a rock. “Regain your might and ignite!” The spell didn’t work, leaving the ember completely unlit. “No… Regain your might and ignite.” The second time it didn’t work, she looked to Uma, desperate, but she just held up her necklace and shrugged.

“Bummer. Let’s go find Gil and leave them all to rot.” With one last, malice-filled glance, Uma and Harry pushed past Mal, heading into the woods

“Uma!” Mal called out, but neither of them stopped. Defeated, she turned back to the rest of us, but we weren’t any more forgiving. “Evie… I’m so sorry. I’m sorry, I just… I thought that… I was afraid to tell you. I thought I was gonna lose my best friend. But I had to do something. I had to protect Auradon.”

“Closing the barrier was your idea?” I’d never heard Evie so angry.

“I did it for us.” I scoffed, shaking my head. How selfish was that? “I did it for our life that we have here now.”

“For our life? What about the kids that we left behind on that island?” Evie demanded. “The kids that we promised? We were their only hope. I thought you were gonna stand up for the VKs. But instead, you lied to them. And you lied to Jay. And you lied to Carlos. And you lied to Hera. And you lied to me. We’re your family.”

“Evie,” Mal begged as she stepped away.

I watched as Carlos moved, averting his eyes away from Mal and turning toward Dude, trying to distract himself. Equally as hurt, I reached over and wrapped my arms around his waist, attempting to find some sort of comfort.

“Evie, I had no choice!”

There was a crash of thunder and the second after, everything went dark.


	12. Chapter 12

For all of us, it was instantaneous. We blinked, and it was like nothing changed. There just was some sort of bolt of lightning, but that didn’t really make any difference for us. The most prominent tell something else had happened came in the fact that my joints felt stiff as a board. With some difficulty, Carlos stood and turned to face me, his expression just as confused as mine. There was no way we all could just suddenly feel this way, something had to have happened.

It seemed to hit the six of us all at once. We all looked to each other with wide-eyed expressions, realizing that just moments ago, we must have been stone statues. Everything was too instantaneous to send us to sleep, not to mention that Audrey likely would have had to be here to cast a spell like that. It almost didn’t register with me at first, and as the rest of my friends took off toward the castle, I remained glued in place, as though I’d forgotten how to walk. It took Carlos coming over and moving me forward a little to get me to follow them.

“You okay?” he asked quietly, trying not to catch the attention of everyone else in the group. 

“Yeah, just… trying to wrap my head around the fact we were stone just a couple of minutes ago. That’s not exactly something they warn you about going into the rest of your life.” That made Carlos laugh a little, lightening the slightly tense air.

“I guess since the spell broke, Mal somehow defeated Audrey.” It was only now that I looked around and noticed Mal wasn’t with the rest of us. Piece by piece, the conversation we’d had with her before this came back to me, and I started to feel that pain in my chest come back.

“I can’t believe Mal’s really going to close of the Isle,” I muttered. “Those kids deserve to come over first. Even the ones that are the evilest, they can be changed. They’re not as set in their ways as their parents. They shouldn’t be trapped there.”

Carlos didn’t say anything for a while, and when I looked over at him, he had this smirk on his face.

“What?” I laughed a little as I asked, unsure of what he was about to say.

“I think you’ve changed a lot more than you realized.” 

Though that statement made me roll my eyes, he had a point. Back when I lived on the Isle, I understood that generally, it was every man for themselves. At first, I’d found protection within Mal’s group, but over time, it blossomed into friendship, the first ones I’d ever been part of in my life. I started caring less about protecting and preserving myself, and more about my friends. And ever since we’d come to Auradon, everything got put into perspective, and I began to care for all the kids on the Isle. Having been in their shoes before, I knew they deserved so much better.

I guess I just never noticed as the change happened.

Once we reached Auradon Prep, all of us immediately made a mad dash for Audrey’s room. Uma and Harry were already in the room, the former pacing back and forth while the latter was slumped down on a sofa. Mal sat on a chair next to the bed, where Audrey had fallen into a deep sleep.

How ironic.

Carlos, Ben, and Jay stayed in the corner, while Evie and I quietly approached the bedside. Mal barely glanced up, clearly still unsure of how to approach us after what happened before we turned to stone—still so weird to think about—but in all honesty, I knew I wasn’t mad anymore.

“She’s slipping away,” Evie whispered, her eyes moving to Audrey’s face again. Mal still didn’t speak for a moment, and I could see the wheels turning in her brain.

“There’s only one person in the world that might be able to do something about this, and that’s Hades.” I raised an eyebrow at her, shaking my head. Of all the villains she could turn to, Hades was the least likely to do what was asked of him.

“Hades? He wouldn’t do it,” Ben groaned. “I wouldn’t risk it.”

“Actually, he might do it for me.” We all looked to her curiously. What made her so special in his eyes. “He’s my father.”

Well then.

My eyes widened as I stared at her, shocked she’d failed to mention this before. Even Evie looked shocked, which honestly probably got me more than the reveal that Hades was her father. Evie was her best friend, and yet, it looked like she had been left in the dark.

Ben awkwardly picked at and pulled on his clothing for a moment, trying to formulate some sort of response while simultaneously processing the information.

“Okay,” was all he managed to mutter at first. “We’ll have to send guards to get him.”

“Maybe I can hitch a ride,” Uma suggested. “The Isle is my home. Someone has to be there to protect it.” I had to admit, it made me sort of sad to think that she was just giving in to returning to exile. Though I wanted to believe Ben could make an exception for someone who likely helped save Auradon, I knew the people wouldn’t be as accepting.

Harry got up from his seat and placed his hands on Uma’s shoulders, leaving his hook on the table.

“Well, then, you will need your first mate.” Uma rolled her eyes, but didn’t protest.

“The Isle will be in very good hands.” That sparked something in Celia, and she stood up from her seat, setting the pillow she’d been holding down with determination.

“Can I go, too?” She didn’t really seem to be asking. “I wish I could be in both places.”

Mal mulled it over for a while, tilting her head back and forth as she looked at Celia, trying to come to a decision. Rather than answering, she shifted her gaze back to Uma.

“I really think that Evie was right. And… I do think that we could have been friends. And I’m really sorry that I lied to all you guys. You deserved so much better than that.”

“You were just trying to do the right thing,” Jay spoke up.

“Yeah,” Uma agreed. Mal glanced at Evie, who finally got up from her seat.

“I get it,” she sighed. At least everything had been forgiven, just before we all went our separate ways. Well, almost everything…

Slowly, I made my way over to where Harry was standing as everyone started to gather their things and say goodbye. He glanced at me briefly, but didn’t stop what he was doing, still clearly thinking I had just wandered over there to taunt him, or ended up in his vicinity by mistake. Despite the momentarily hostile gaze, I uncrossed my arms and spoke.

“Harry?” He didn’t look up. “I’m gonna talk anyways. I just wanted to say that… I can’t forgive you for the past, and I can’t forget it, but… I was hoping, maybe, we could at least be civil.” That piqued his interest enough for him to stand up straight. “We don’t have to be friends—and to be honest, I don’t think I’ll ever be at that level—but if we could not try to kill each other whenever we’re together, I think that… I think that’s the right thing to do.” I could have sworn I saw the faintest hint of a smile cross his lips.

“That wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.”

I hadn’t noticed that my hands no longer trembled or clenched into fists when I was around him until I stuck one out for him to shake and it remained still as water in a glass. He stared at it for a second, as though baffled by the gesture, then took it.

For a second, before I released it and headed back over to my friends, we shared a tiny smile.

Everyone but Mal was forced to go home not long after that. It made sense, not wanting to crowd Audrey, but there was a part of me that wanted to see how Mal and Hades would interact. I mean, for as long as I’d known her, she never even acknowledged that Hades existed. This revelation completely blew everything out of the water. Whatever happened between the two of them, I guess I’ll never know. He’d managed to revive Audrey, however, so I suppose that’s what mattered. I hated that he immediately got sent back, but I didn’t have any say in that whatsoever.

Happier events were to come, of course. Mal and Ben’s engagement party was today, and after a few days of not seeing our friends, I knew Carlos and I were ready to get out and enjoy some time with them. It was unfortunate that not all of the friends we’d made could be there, but I forced myself to put that out of my mind so I could enjoy myself.

“Hey, you ready to go?” I called out to Carlos, slipping my shoes on and making my way over to my dresser to grab their present.

“Yep! Let’s get…” His pace slowed as he came to where I was, until he came to a complete stop. I looked in the mirror and noticed he was just standing there, prompting me to turn around as I laughed awkwardly.

“What?” He shook his head, bringing himself out of his trance and allowing him to walk the rest of the way over.

“Nothing, you just… you look beautiful.” Despite me rolling my eyes, I was flattered.

“Thanks. You don’t look too bad yourself.” I held up the wrapped box. “Shall we?”

“One second.” He leaned forward and kissed me, nearly causing me to drop the gift, then held his arm out for me to take.

Almost immediately when we arrived, Evie ran over to us, taking our hands and dragging us over to where she and Jay had been standing already. She had this eager grin on her face, not unlike when she got into a groove while designing. She still didn’t say anything for a moment, just standing and staring at us with the smile that honestly was starting to get a little creepy.

“Evie, what’s going on?” I finally asked as Jay handed Carlos and I little glasses of punch.

“I’m just so excited!” she declared. “I mean, one of us is getting married. _Married_! It’s so great for Mal and Ben.”

It never really hit me before what all of this would be leading to. Mal would be a wife. That seemed like such a foreign concept, but weirdly enough, it sort of suited her.

“There they are.” I turned around to see Mal and Ben heading in our direction. Everyone dipped down into a quick bow as Mal and Ben made their rounds, before retreating up onto the balcony for a toast.

“Lady Mal and I want to thank you for celebrating our engagement with us today.” Ben’s voice carried through the entire crowd. “I couldn’t be prouder or happier to call you my Queen. So, raise your glasses.” Everyone did as told. The bright sun caught the carved glass, casting rainbows over faces and the ground. “To our future Queen of Auradon.”

“To our Queen of Auradon!” After Ben took a sip from his drink, everyone did the same, celebrating the next chapter of Mal’s life she’d be entering.

“Speech, Your Special-ness!” Carlos shouted. I lightly smacked him, trying to fight down my smile.

“Speech, Your Fancy One,” Jay encouraged. Everyone burst into laughter, but once the noise settled, Mal’s expression soured, and I could see tears beginning to form in her eyes.

“I can’t,” she admitted suddenly, causing the crowd to gasp. Only now did I notice her gaze wasn’t on all of us, it was on the Isle. “I can’t be Queen of Auradon.” Ben tried to get her attention, but she muttered something to him and turned back to us. “We made a decision… to close the barrier forever. And it was my idea. But it’s wrong. I’ve learned… that you can’t live in fear… because it doesn’t actually protect you from anything. You never know where the bad is gonna come from. And you never know where the heroes are gonna come from, either. Without Uma and her pirates, Auradon would be gone. And without Hades… my father…” As expected, the people gasped. “…Audrey would be gone. We are all capable of good and bad, no matter which side of the barrier we come from. And that’s why I can’t be queen of just Auradon. I have to be queen of the Isle, too. And it’s time we take the barrier down forever.”

“We can’t do that,” Beast immediately protested, though Belle held her hand up to silence him

“It’s up to us, Dad,” Ben pointed out. “I choose to be a king who moves forward. It’s time for forgiveness. It’s time for new beginnings. The barrier will come down!”

The people cheered at Ben’s declaration, and although I was overwhelmed with joy, I had to stop for a moment and take note how quickly these people budged on their beliefs. These were the people that seemed appalled by the thought of Hades being Mal’s father not but two minutes ago.

Still, when Mal gestured the four of us to come up, I felt that flood of joy again. We crushed in as close to each other as possible, wrapping our arms around each others’ shoulders as Fairy Godmother passed Mal her wand. She took a deep breath, then held the wand in the air.

“To make the world a better place, we have to do it face-to-face.”

With one flick, a light cast out from the wand and stuck the barrier around the Isle of the Lost, causing it to dissolve into golden dust as the pathway between the two worlds began to rebuild itself. Slowly, the younger residents of the Isle crept out from their homes and made their way over to us in Auradon, seemingly hesitant. It wasn’t until Mal, Evie, Jay, Carlos, and I stepped forward and bowed to them that they seemed to loosen up and joined in on the party. Still laughing, Carlos took my hand and led me to dance with him, and I placed my head against his chest. My mind raced for a while, unsure of exactly what to say, until I looked up at him again.

“You nervous to see your mom again?” I asked in a tone that I hoped indicated to him that I was pretty scared, too.

“He’s not the one who should be nervous!” We both looked to our right to see Dude sitting on the stairs, tail tucked between his legs. “His mom is Cruella de Vil. I’m petrified!” Carlos’ eyes suddenly went wide.

“Wait ‘til she hears I want to be a vet.”

I grimaced and moved one hand up to his cheek, resting it there to attempt and provide some reassurance. It took a couple moments, but he finally snapped out of it and pulled me against him again. I let out a content sigh as my eyes scanned over the party. My eyes stopped for just a second as they landed on Harry, who happened to look my way at the same time. We both stood frozen, until he offered me a smile—not some sick, twisted smile, like I’d remembered, but a genuine one.

I gladly flashed him one back.

I squeezed a little tighter onto Carlos and Evie’s hands, staring at the bridge that led to the Isle. It seemed so much more intimidating than it had to first time we came over here, but there was still that warm feeling of hope and excitement in my chest.

“Do you ever miss them?” Evie asked, her smile evident in her voice.

“Actually, yeah,” I admitted, surprising even myself. “Sometimes I really do.”

“Do you think they miss us?” We all nodded.

“Yeah, of course.”

Mal released one of her hands from the chain and held it out in front of her, smirking at the rest of us.

“’Cause we’re rotten.”

The rest of us followed in suit, pressing our fists together.

“To the core.”


End file.
